IT’S ALL ABOUT JESUS:
PROCLAIMING THE POWER OF GOD’S WORD

 

 

Jeremiah 23:29
Is not my word like fire,
declares the LORD,
like a hammer that breaks the rock in pieces?

Father, Forgive Our Empty Promises

Father, forgive us;
though You have given us
the truth of Your Living
and Your Written Word,
we too quickly rise
on our own two feet
and proudly proclaim
“Truth” in Jesus’ Name—
we too often shape and
we frame our own
opinions and
interpretations
based on our own
experiences and
some other person’s
lofty opinions
when Your Word is
absolute Truth,
and Your Word is
the foundation
for life as we know
it and beyond—
we are commanded
by You to search
and to listen to
and to obey Your Word—
no wonder we face
such confusion
in this world, while
 we ignore Your Truth.

 

 

 

There are plenty of prophets in this modern world, eager to please your ears, and tickle you heart and amaze your mind with pretty words which literally build castles in the air. There are more than enough “Get Rich Quick” books, “Be Happy” books, and “Leave Behind Your Old Life” books. There are podcasts which can teach you 1001 ways to rise above the natural to the supernatural. There are reality shows on TV, movies in the theater, songs to dance to, to sing along with, to be inspired by, and there are on-line and printed magazines to explain answers to every question you can imagine. Yet, too much of it amounts to so much babel. No one seems to have a clue as they keep searching in all the wrong places. That’s the bad news, and always has been.

Here’s the Good News: Really Good News! Read it: “Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.” (Psalm 119:105 KJV)

 

 

When I think about the centrality and the power of the Word of God these days, I thank God for the life of Joe Childs. More than any other person in my life, he has consistently, insistently upheld the power and authority of God’s Word. I first got to know Joe as our Sunday School teacher while we were on Stateside Assignment as missionaries in Nigeria, then Niger. I found His Sunday School lessons challenging  in the best kind of way. I found that his teaching  took me beyond the surface, beyond taking God’s Word as if it were no more than children’s stories  or inspiring tales. Rather Joe’s inspired teaching always moved both my heart and mind into the depth of God’s Word as it presented His Holiness, His Righteousness, and His Love.

In one lesson He could start out in a New Testament Gospel or Letter and take us back through time and through Scripture to establish the links which pointed to God’s Eternal Message of God’s Redemption for sinful men through the life and death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. I was constantly amazed at how diligently Joe traced out the relationships between Scriptures throughout the Bible to firmly establish the unchanging message of the Gospel. My mind was challenged, my heart was uplifted and my soul was assured in the reality and the glory of the God of the Bible.

 

 

What I did not know about Joe is that he had for a long, long time been a man who lived and practiced and stood on the truth of the Word of God he so powerfully taught. He had been born during World War II in Adele, Georgia. His Dad, John Childs, had been away in the War, and did not actually see Joe until he was three years old. After the war, Joe’s Dad became the superintendent in a construction company, which required the family to move often. Joe learned to make friends quickly. He found friends readily in the school bands where they moved, as he played the trumpet and the French horn. After high school Joe attended Georgia Tech and Jacksonville State. He married young and was blessed with three sons; Joe Junior, Stephen and Jason. In the meantime His Dad established Childs Construction Company; so Joe partnered with his Dad in the family business.

 

 

After spending some years as a single, Joe met and married Nalda Sealey, a deeply committed Christian. Not long after they were married, during a morning devotion Joe was leading, God reminded him of the Call HE had placed on Joe’s life when he was quite young. In his obedient response to the new sense of God’s Call, he began the process of shutting down the family business, and began to  more diligently study the Bible. He studied through Liberty University and earned a degree in Biblical Studies. God opened up opportunities for Joe to teach Sunday School and to preach in various churches. He began Bible studies in several apartment complexes, one retirement center and at the Etowah County Jail. He also took the Gospel message to Indonesia, Venezuela, Costa Rica, Russia and Mexico. For several years Joe traveled with his dear missionary friend, Contardo Covarrubias. Then they met a young couple in Saltillo, Mexico; Alejandro and Angeles Castro, and began to focus their ministry through the Castro’s work in their church, their ministries in jails and prisons, in food distribution and other outreach activities among the poor. Once Joe and Nalda joined Glencoe First Baptist Church, he enlisted Joe Brothers and David Webster to join him in mission trips to Saltillo. That small group has grown to include many others for the last thirteen years, including Glencoe church members and friends from other churches.This ministry has provided eyeglasses, clothes, medical care and medication. Through it all Joe and Nalda have focused all efforts on sharing the Gospel.

 

 

Speaking of Joe and Nalda: God has given them together a deep and abiding love for other people which expresses itself in all manner of ways, serving in so many ministries of the Church, and perhaps, most beautifully, in upholding individuals and families in prayer. Becky and I know the blessing of this concerted and consistent and powerful prayer personally. They know some of our deepest prayer needs, and they faithfully seek updates and continue to pray—and of course, God honors such faithful prayer.

Joe Child’s life clearly stands strong on the statement: IT’S ALL ABOUT JESUS. I praise God for such mentors and such inspiring examples as Joe and Nalda. With our Good God and friends like them, we definitely have more blessings that you could ever name. Praise the Lord!

(I have to salute Nalda for comprehensive info which forms the basis of much of this post. Thanks!)